HIST232: Modern Middle East and Southwest Asia

Unit 6: The Iranian RevolutionIn this unit, we will examine the origins of the Islamic Revolution and
then take a look at social and political life in Iran under Ayatollah
Khomeini’s rule. We will also discuss how the Iranian Revolution
destabilized the nations of the Middle East and Southwest Asia and led
to religious and political turmoil throughout the region in the
following decades. Following World War I, Iran attempted to maintain
political independence from European imperial authority, but British
investments in Iran’s oil industry gave Great Britain significant
control over Iran’s economy and politics. After World War II, Iranian
voters elected Mohammed Mossadegh as prime minister. Once in power,
Mossadegh began nationalizing Iran’s oil industry. In response, the
British and American governments instigated Mossadegh’s overthrow and
placed autocratic ruler Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in charge of the
country. The Shah supported modernization and secularization of Iranian
society and brutally suppressed political and religious opponents. In
1978, strikes and demonstrations against the Shah’s rule led to the
Iranian Revolution. The Shah fled Iran, and a theocratic council
appointed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as the new supreme religious
leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Unit 6 Time Advisory
This unit will take you approximately 13 hours to complete.

☐ Subunit 6.1: 5 hours

☐ Reading: 2.5
hours

☐ Web Media: 1 hour

☐ Lecture: 1.5 hours

☐ Subunit 6.2: 7 hours

☐ Reading: 4 hours

☐ Web Media: 1.5 hours

☐ Lecture: 1.5 hours

☐ Subunit 6.3: 1 hour

Unit6 Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this unit, the student will be able to:
- Identify the political and cultural origins of the 1979 Islamic
Revolution in Iran and assess how the Revolution altered political
and social life in Iran and the surrounding region.
- Identify the impact of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran on
U.S.-Iranian diplomatic relations.

Instructions: Click on the above link. You might be asked to
launch iTunes before you can access the lecture. Scroll down to
find Lecture 23. Please listen to the entire lecture (approximately
78 minutes), which addresses Iran under the Shahs.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the link above.

6.1.1 British and American Imperialism in the 1950s
- Reading: C-SPAN Video Library/National Cathedral’s Center for
Global Justice and Reconciliation: “The U.S. and Iran: A Difficult
History”
Link: C--SPAN Video Library/National Cathedral’s Center for Global
Justice and Reconciliation: “The U.S. and Iran: A Difficult
History” (Adobe Flash)

Instructions: On the C-SPAN website, please click on the play
button and watch the entire discussion (approximately 110 minutes)
to better understand U.S./Iranian relations. This lecture also
addresses subunits 6.1.3 through 6.1.6.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

Instructions: Please read Khomeini’s speech to better understand
the Iranian Revolution. Ayatollah Khomeini gave this speech at the
end of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. He warns working-class
Iranians not to be deceived by the corrupting pro-Western ideas and
values of the elites. He asserts that Iranians should look to the
principles of Islam as they seek political and intellectual guidance
in order to create the new Islamic Republic rather than to the
West.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

Instructions: On the C-SPAN website, please click on the play
button and watch the entire discussion (approximately 94 minutes) to
better understand the causes and effects of the Iranian hostage
crisis.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpage above.

Instructions: Click on the above link. You might be asked to
launch iTunes before you can access the lecture. Scroll down to
find Lecture 24. Please listen to the entire lecture (approximately
73 minutes), which addresses the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the link above.

6.3 Consolidating the Revolution
- Reading: US Library of Congress: Helen Chapin Metz, ed.’s Iran: A
Country Study: “Terror and Repression” and “Consolidation of the
Revolution”
Link: US Library of Congress: Helen Chapin Metz, ed.’s Iran: A
Country Study: “Terror and
Repression” (HTML) and
“Consolidation of the
Revolution” (HTML)

Instructions: Please read these webpages in their entirety to
better understand prerevolutionary Iran. These readings also
address subunits 6.3.1 through 6.3.6.

Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use
displayed on the webpages above.

6.3.1 Merging of Religious and Civil Authority6.3.2 Suppression of Secular Values6.3.3 Suppression of Political Opposition6.3.4 Support of Revolutionary Terrorist Organizations Abroad6.3.5 Consequences of Iranian Revolution for Middle East and Southwest
Asia6.3.6 Consequences of Iranian Revolution for International Community